The Evil Of Zoltran
by Jed Rhodes
Summary: The Doctor and friends prepare to combat their most deadly foe; the evil Zoltran, with his Deadly Device Of Doom, Damnation and Destruction!
1. Chapter 1

**This story takes place after "The Nightmare Child".**

--

Ok, so it hadn't been relaxing.

The Doctor ruminated on the wisdom of going to Lock Tar Morakai for the thirty fifth time that day, as the control panel sparked again. Standing next to him, trying desperately to keep the lever she was holding level, was Carrie, his current female companion, a lovely twenty something (he forgot the exact age, but it wasn't important at the moment) woman who he'd met in a bank while investigating some Cybermen.

Corporal Daniel McKenzie, of UNIT fame, was off doing his military thing of course, as usual, which suited the Doctor fine, considering what he was fighting.

They had landed here about five hours ago, and had discovered that an evil race of mad robots invading. Of course, the Doctor, being the Doctor, had decided to stop them. After about five minutes, he'd worked out that they ran on a specific power mechanism, and that if he sent a signal at the exact right frequency, they would be disrupted and destroyed.

Of course, building a machine to send that signal was slightly more complicated than saying you needed one. So here he was, five hours later, Daniel fighting the bad guys and him doing the technological stuff. It seemed pretty familiar, but he didn't remember why…

Ah, absent mindedness, he thought to himself. A blessing and a curse. Still, it can't have been anything important. He would have remembered it surely?

"How long 'til it's finished?" Carrie asked.

"Couple of minutes, yet," the Doctor replied. "Give or take an hour."

"An hour?!" Carrie said, despairing slightly. "Doctor, they'll be here in a minute!"

"Well, maybe not an hour," the Doctor grinned, as the console lit up. "Maybe more like a second. Now, Carrie, when I say when, let that lever go."

"Ok…" Carrie said, as the Doctor checked the monitor. This had actually gone to plan. The Doctor seemed to be - no he _was -_ smiling in utter bliss.

"What's up?" Carrie asked.

"Well," the Doctor said, "We've set up the plan, beaten he bad guys… that's almost a classic Doctor-saves-the-day!" He folded his arms and looked especially pleased with himself. "The Doctor, wandering Time Lord -One, all-the-evils-of-the-multiverse – Nada!"

At which point of course, the great universal power known on many worlds as 'Sods Law' decided that the Doctor was being a bit up himself, and decided to rain on his parade. The door to the room exploded inwards and dozens of the evil Robots burst in, firing lasers everywhere.

"When?!" Carrie yelled, crouching.

"No! Not when! Categorically not When! As far from When as it gets!" the Doctor yelled back.

"Why?!" she yelled despairingly.

"Because I said so!" he yelled. It would take forever to explain that the machine would take another thirty three seconds to get fully charged for the exact moment, so he resorted to doing the authoritarian gig. He grabbed pole and swung for the nearest robot. They were no longer firing their lasers – _'probably realized that this place is filled with dangerous technological gubbins,'_ the Doctor thought – but they were still trying to get to the Doctor and Carrie. Twenty seconds. He knocked a robots head off. Fifteen seconds. Daniel burst into the room, spraying laser fire at the robots – lovely, Daniel, the Doctor thought sarcastically. Always the military option, which was Daniel through and through. Ten seconds. He hit another robot, but it wrenched the pole out of his hands. Five. He ducked as it tried to hit him. Four. He dodged again. Three. It hit him in the shoulder, driving him to his knees. Two. He looked up at it. One. It's hand turned into a blade… and he remembered why this situation seemed familiar. Because he had been here before. Fighting monsters. Dying.

This was it.

In the few moments he had left, give or take, he smiled and considered his life. The Cybermen. Davros. The Nightmare Child.

Grace…

"WHEN!!" he yelled, not caring about himself, just about the victory, saving the day… doing what he always had, always would. Never stopping, never halting. His life flashed before his eyes. The blade came down… he closed his eyes, and waited…

--

Carrie let go of the lever.

A blinding flash lit the room.

A scream pierced the silence.

The light receded as fast as it had come.

The robots were lying around, sparking.

The Doctor was lying prostrate on the floor, a hole through his chest.

--

"Doctor!" Daniel yelled, running over to him. His body went into spasm, blood pouring out of the hole in his chest, him gagging on the blood welling up in his throat.

"What happened?" Carrie yelled, running down to where they were.

"He must've been stabbed by one of the robots!" Daniel said quietly. "Doctor? Doctor?!"

The Doctor tried to talk, but the words wouldn't come, and he screamed in pain and frustration. Daniel picked him up, and turned to Carrie, his face blazing.

"Get your key out. We need to get him to the TARDIS."

--

The door opened, and Daniel carried the Doctor inside, putting him down carefully by the glowing green console. The TARDIS was darker, as if she knew her owner was dying once more, and was preparing the suitable atmosphere.

The Doctor had improved slightly, the blood clotting, but the wound was obviously terminal. He had by this point either swallowed the blood in his throat or spat it out, and was gulping air down like – well, like a dying man.

"What do we do?" Carrie asked, looking around as if trying to find a cure for a great big hole in the chest.

"Nothing," Daniel said. "He's already doing it, I think."

"What?" Carrie yelled, angrily. Daniel realized that, to her, it looked as though the Doctor was finished. This must be dreadful, he thought, absolutely dreadful.

Daniel had studied the files. He knew about Regeneration. He knew this part. Not that he wasn't upset, but the Doctor would be the same person after this.

"Time Lords have a failsafe in case of mortal injury," he explained to Carrie. "They call it regeneration. He's going to heal his wounds, but in the process his body's going to be restructured – it's going to look different. He's going to look different. And act different. UNIT has lots of files on the different Doctors."

The Doctor was trying to stand up, and managed to pull himself upright, with a great effort.

"But," Carrie said, addressing him, "you'll be alright, won't you? I mean, you'll survive?"

The Doctor said nothing, absolutely nothing, but he grinned. The old, good-times-around-the-corner smile. And then, the smile faded, and the Doctor collapsed to the floor, face peaceful, eyes closed.

He was dead. Carrie stared at the body in abject shock for a long moment, and started to sob. Daniel stared at it solemnly. He knew what happened now, and he was merely waiting.

Twitch.

The face twitched. Then the hand twitched. A bolt of lightening struck the face from – somewhere. Then, a light shone, and at first, neither Daniel nor Carrie could tell where the light was coming from – but then it became apparent, because it was coming from him. He was overexposing, his face glowing, and then… and then they couldn't see his face, just the light. And then… and then it was gone, little wisps of energy flying away… but they still couldn't see his face, their eyes were still adjusting, and he put his hand over his face, moaning.

For a moment, neither of the humans in the room said anything, and then they heard the new Doctors first word, spoken softly, in a similar but slightly different voice, deeper, more sarcastic, and muffled through his hand.

"Ouch."

--


	2. Chapter 2

II

"Doctor, sir, are you alright?" Daniel asked him. He didn't reply for a moment, but finally, started stirring.

"I… think so," the new voice said; as the Doctor slowly stood up, hand over face. Then the hand slowly dropped away, revealing the new face.

Older, about forty. Thinner nose. The hair was the same sort of length, but was now a dark, raven black. He seemed about the same height. The New Doctor cocked his head.

"Oh, that's odd," he said, his voice calm and slightly more upper class than it had been, the trace of Liverpool that had been there now completely gone. "I now sound like I went to Eton and dropped out. Interesting. Possibly dangerous if I ever go somewhere surrounded by chavs but otherwise… interesting."

He stood up, to his full height - about six foot, it seemed – and looked around, before focusing on his hands.

"Well they look normal," he muttered. "And my eyesight is perfect. Good. Hm."

"That's the Doctor?" Carrie muttered.

"Yes," he answered, hearing her. "Oh, hello, my hearing is very acute – marvellous!"

He patted himself up and down, checking on every nook and cranny. He ran his tongue along his teeth.

"Well," he said, "it all seems to be in order. Tell you what; did we sort out the bad guys?"

He looked enquiringly at them Daniel smiled and nodded, Carrie did nothing. Said nothing.

"Hello , what's up with you?" he asked her. "We're away from the planet of the nasty robot fellows, - ooh, fellows, haven't said that in a while – I'm fine and dandy, what's wrong?"

"You are," she replied bluntly. "You just… just… just changed, like that! It's not right. You don't feel… right."

"Well," he replied, "I'm not too chuffed about it myself – I mean, I was bloody happy with that body! I mean, you might have been inconvenienced, but for me – whole new body! And for all I know I might be an arse!"

"Then why did you have to change?!" she yelled at him.

He stepped back, looking rather hurt by this outburst.

"Because I had to," he said, softly. He looked incredibly old for a moment, almost too old for his body – his eyes, so blue, so similar to – well, to his old ones, and they shone in the gloom of the dark console room. "I had to, to save myself…"

He shook his head, almost as if snapping out of a trance.

"Right!" he yelled. "Let's get on with some work! First things first, new clothes. Next, the console room. I hate this horrible desktop, it's ghastly… I don't know why I ever picked it…"

He started running around the console, pressing buttons, flicking switches. Then he stopped, and looked down, at himself.

"Like I said," he muttered softly. "First things first, new clothes."

He ran off in the direction of the wardrobe. Carrie looked at Daniel, who shrugged.

"It could be worse," he said. "Believe me, it could be worse."

Then he leant against the console and sighed.

"What happens now?" Carrie asked.

"Well, he's got to get used to the new him," Daniel explained. "And then he's got to let _us_ get used to him."

Carrie sighed as well, and turned away.

"That might take a while," she said.

--

The Doctor woke up with a splitting headache.

Not surprisingly, this wasn't the brand new, Ninth Doctor, who was currently (in relative terms) searching for a new wardrobe.

No, this was the Eighth Doctor, still in his slightly dusty brown velvet coat, white wing collar shirt and cravat, complete with waistcoat and watch chain. Who had, the last time he had looked, been on a whole different world, about to die.

Not surprisingly then, his first word was indeed "what?" followed shortly by "what?!" and in quick succession by "WHAT?!"

He was in what could only be described as a room. It was boring, in that it was all white, no decorations, and nothing but walls save for the food machine, and a wall-sized monitor. There was a bed, a chair, and the floor and walls were all padded.

"Alright," he said out loud after a moment. "Whoever's done this better explain what the hell is going on!"

He didn't normally get so upset – but this was upsetting! It was at this point that the monitor flickered into life, and a message appeared, in Gallifreyan.

**Post it note on the food machine. Explains everything. Cheers. YB. PS. No yelling. Does nothing for your blood pressure.**

The Doctor spun, and saw a post-it-note attached to the top of the machine. He picked it off and read, in plain Gallifreyan, the following message, handwritten:

**Dear Doctor.**

**Hello, sorry about all this. I'm a representative of a – well, what you would call an interested party, in your adventures. We sort of monitor all the things all you lovely four dimensional beings get up to, in the hope of making sure you don't cock up existence by accident, because, lets face it, you _can_, and also, because we rather like the silly things you get up to. But it's come to a head now, because we've been watching your adventures for a while now (and aren't they just hilarious fun? Really though?) but we've noticed that you seem to be getting rather stressed. Now, don't get us wrong, we haven't got a problem with you having your own emotions and so forth, but since the universe sort of relies on you to save it's spacking arse every so often, we've decided that you simply can't do anything silly like go off on one. We know you, we know the legend, and we want the Doctor to be Forever. So, we've decided, in the interest of, well, you know, _everything_** (and here the Doctor marvelled that they were able to do italics in both handwritten and Gallifreyan) **to give you a break. A proper, honest to Rassilon break, where all you have to worry about is what you have for dinner. We'll stick you back where you're meant to be eventually (don't worry, we'll come up with some excuse, or else wipe your friends minds, we can't decide) but until then, we thought you'd appreciate seeing what they're up to! I wouldn't worry, the bloke you are about to see on the screen, is in fact our replacement for you, having acted out a regeneration. He is in fact a – well, robot isn't the term we'd use, cos he's organic, but he's not a real person – he's just a copy of you, minus all the stress (hence the regeneration - they'd be able to tell some small difference in his behaviour otherwise). We're too late to see you go (trust me, it was cool) but you should be able to see him. He's great! Best bit is, he doesn't even know he's a fake…**

**Hoping for the best for you, as always.**

**You benefactors. (YB in future.)**

The Doctor put the note down, and turned to the monitor, which had flickered into life again, and was showing him the TARDIS wardrobe. There was a man rooting around there, doing nothing much except look at clothes. The Doctor didn't recognize him, then realized, with horrible certainty, that _that_ was his replacement.

"Oh that's horrible," he said, looking at the man in disgust. "Really, though, that's awful!"

--


	3. Chapter 3

III

He wandered around, looking at different combinations, checking different things out… some stuff was horrible, some stuff was garish, some of it he really had to throw out, but in the end he found a combo that he felt really suited him. A long black velvet coat, similar in style to his predecessors (which he had quite liked). Black shirt and checked purple and orange waistcoat. Black tie, dark grey trousers.

He looked himself up and down, and smiled.

Yes, this was perfect.

--

Carrie sat down, contemplating the changes that one had to go through in life. She was in her fifties. She knew about change – God knew she had been through a lot in her time. She remembered when her pet Dog had died when she was six – the first major change she had ever had. She had cried for days, but she had eventually gotten over it.

Of course, in many ways this situation was so different – the Doctor was alive, albeit he was different than he had been. But the old Doctor was gone. She had seen him as a surrogate brother, not a pet, but still, in some, small, weird way, she had loved him.

There had been so little that was certain about this life, she ruminated. So little that had been – normal. One minute, you could end up on some distant world, populated by walking antelopes, and the next you could meet Tolkien. So little about this was constant, so few things certain.

The Doctor was – had been - one of the certain things. He had been – well, he had been fantastic. But now it seemed, not even he was certain.

Daniel had explained that UNIT had records of about Eight Doctors. Eight. How could a man be Eight people? How? Daniel had put it quite succinctly:

"_See the way I see it is, even us humans, we can have other selves. Not as many as the Doctor can, because he's really, really old, but – well, take me. I'm twenty seven – there's me in the regular army, me before the army, me in UNIT, me with the old Doctor, and me now. All different, and all the same person... Anyway, in UNIT, you come to accept that he's the Doctor, no matter what he looks like._

Daniel was a soldier, more inclined to be suspicious of everything. Carrie was – she hoped – more open minded. So Carrie was more comfortable about the change now, but not that much more. She still missed her Doctor. Young, brave, and caring, he had been. She didn't know if she could take this new – older, sarkier, and less handsome one. But she would damn well try.

--

When they came into the TARDIS after he'd promised to change it for them, they were somewhat pleasantly surprised. It was, he said, his Classic Cloisters theme, which he had described to them as ornate, open plan, light, slightly Faux-Roman, and also quite techno. Which it was in fairness. It was a twelve foot high dome, with four Roman style pillars holding it up. The whole thing was shining white, decorated with golden yellow roundels, and covered in vines growing in the corners. The outside door was still Police Box shaped, but was now painted white and covered in roundels like the rest of it. At the centre of it all was a six sided console, less organic than the old one had been, with golden levers and buttons and, oddly, an Apple laptop painted white. At the centre of this console was a tall glass column, straighter than the old one had been with little glass tubes in it, all colored differently.

"Nice," Daniel said appreciatively.

"Well," the Doctor grinned, the word used in a completely honest tone, "I do love this look, I really do. Must be something about this regeneration, likes it's ornately-styled things. Do try not to throw a grenade in here."

"I thought we were over that, sir," Daniel said, mock-hurt.

"Your mistake," the Doctor said, grinning mischievously. "I still want to see your favorite car…"

Carrie listened to them talk for some time, and didn't say anything. Not a word. After a moment, the Doctor turned to her, and spoke softly.

"Where are we going now then?" he asked.

She looked into those eyes, that grin that promised adventure, and the trip of a lifetime, and she smiled too.

"Anywhere," she said.

"Right then!" the Doctor yelled, running to the console. "Press the big red button, spin a lever, pull a knob – calm down Daniel – press the exact combination of buttons and –"

He smiled at his companions, who smiled back.

" –don't for get to turn the handbrake off. And – Avante!"

The TARDIS started its journey, to who knew where and who knew when, and the Doctor grinned as they set off into the great unknown, the purpose of his life…

--

And the Eighth Doctor watched all this with an air of quiet annoyance. The TV had focused on the 'Ninth' Doctor (who he preferred to think of as the 'Fake Doctor', the 'Usurper', the 'Charlatan' and the 'Fraud') since the regeneration, so he had no way of knowing how his companions were taking this, until he had seen them just now. Daniel was taking it well, as the Doctor knew he would. Carrie less so, but with Daniel around, it would be easier for her. He knew Daniel had studied the files of his other incarnations, so he knew the UNIT man would take it in his stride

He felt his anger build up at the thought of all the pain Carrie was going through, and he vented it at his captors in a verbal assault: "This isn't right," he muttered. "You shouldn't do this, I'm a free individual!" His voice rose to a yell. "I don't like being locked up for being a bit stressed! EVERYBODY GETS STRESSED!!"

The monitor flashed a message up, and for the first time, he heard from his captors.

**Oh calm down, will you? We don't want to have to put a muffler on you as well as this you know. **

"You're monitoring me?" the Doctor asked suspiciously.

**Well, duh. We wouldn't just leave you in a room to rot, we care, remember?**

"Well, it doesn't seem like you do!" the Doctor bellowed at the TV. "I'm a Time Lord, nine hundred years old from the planet Gallifrey, and you can't keep me here, it's against my nature to be cooped up! IT ISN'T NATURAL!!"

**Well**, the TV replied, **you'll just have to callm down, won't you? You're doing no one any good by getting stressed. It'll be the downfall of the universe if you let yourself get too upset.**

The Doctor stopped ranting for a moment, and thought about what he had just read. Then it hit him how familiar it sounded.

"You aren't on about the Valeyard, are you?" he asked annoyance in his tone once again.

**To an extent**, the TV replied**. To the extent that he exists and you exist, and that you are capable of becoming him and that he is just a version of you, and all that semi mystical crap that you just can't shake off. We remember what happened on Earth, 1996, with Mel, where you felt his presence again. And you are damn angry at the injustice of the universe as of now, aren't you? Don't lie; we know... we see everything, remember? Ka Faraq Gatri, the Nightmare Child, the Master... You know, we don't like keeping you cooped up, but we have to, so we will. It's not just for the universes good, it's for yours. And we are sorry, you have to believe that.**

"Oh that's self righteous crap, and you know it!" the Doctor said, scathingly. His language was certainly degenerating in here.

**Be like that then,** the TV said. **But we aren't letting you go, there's no way we're going to risk it. You're just going to have to relax, and enjoy this break we're giving you. It's for your sake as much as the universes, you know. We really are sorry. **

"Oh you sound like my mother," the Doctor said petulantly.

**Here, why don't you watch a video or two?**, the TV asked, almost mockingly.** Or better yet, see how your friends are getting on…**

The TV flickered onto the TARDIS console room (and hadn't the fake Doctor made a blinking mess of that?!) and the Fake Doctor and Co discussing where they had landed.

"Well, we might as well have a look," the Fake Doctor was saying.

"But if the scanner isn't working, we don't know if there's anything dangerous out there!" Daniel pointed out. Good man, Daniel, the Doctor thought.

--

"We'll just have to chance it," the Doctor said. "Besides which, there's something dangerous wherever in the universe you go. I am dangerous. The TARDIS is one of the most dangerous things in the universe. You yourself are very dangerous, Daniel. But we must face danger, face to face."

"Badly misquoting Lord of the Rings won't help," Carrie smiled. "I'll go with you, Doctor."

He smiled at her, and then, slowly, he stood to his full height, then walked out of the door. Carrie looked at Daniel, the shrugged, and they walked out after the Doctor, together.

--


	4. Chapter 4

IV

They stepped out onto the rocky plain.

"Well, this is nice," Daniel deadpanned.

It was a rocky hellhole, covered in thorns and dead shrubbery. There were black and grey rocky mountains in the distance, and Daniel could have sworn that lightning was flashing in the distance.

"Sarcasm," the Doctor said, smiling, "is the single lowest form of wit in the cosmos. I should know, I've seen a lot of it."

"Yeah, but it's still funny," Daniel grinned back. "Sir," he added.

"I don't know about you, but I'm freezing," Carrie said behind them. They turned – she was wearing a thin shirt, light brown pullover over that, and a pair of jeans.

"Well," the Doctor said, smiling, "you just pop back inside and grab a coat, and we'll wait here."

Carrie smiled, and walked back in, while the Doctor and Daniel waited.

"There's something wrong here," the Doctor said almost instantly to Daniel. "I don't know what – but I can feel something amiss."

"'Amiss?'" Daniel smiled. "Man, you really do sound as though you went to Eton. Sir," he added again.

"I know," the Doctor smiled, and then his face became more serious. "And somehow – don't ask me how – but that almost feels wrong too…"

--

"Well of course it does!" the Eighth Doctor yelled at the screen. "You aren't the Doctor you moron! Honestly…"

The screen blanked out as once more, his mysterious 'benefactors,' deciding to contact him.

**He can't hear you, you know.**

"Well duh," the Doctor said, slumping against the wall.

**How are you enjoying your stay?**

"I'm not," the Doctor said huffily.

**Oh come on, not even a little?**

"The food's alright."

**See? You're cheering up already.**

"I want to meet you face to face," the Doctor told the monitor. It didn't reply for a moment.

**If you're certain.**

"Too bloody right."

"Alright then," came a voice from the other corner, and suddenly a man in a white robe was there, smiling at him. He was younger than the Doctor looked, and his face looked like it was designed to smile.

"Who are you?" the Doctor asked.

"I already told you," the man said. "We're a… interested party."

"Complete with dramatic pause," the Doctor smiled. "Come on – what do you represent?"

"I represent a bunch of extra dimensional beings who like watching you fourth dimensional beings live your lives," the man explained. "We… we treat you like a mini universe. A bottle universe."

"I know what they are," the Doctor said.

"Well, we've been watching you for a while, Doctor," the man continued. "You are, what we like to think of as 'one of the good folks.' You try to help the universe out a little in your lifetime. And that is good."

"Why thank you," the Doctor smiled.

"And it's because of that goodness, that we wanted to make sure you were alright," the man kept going, despite the interruptions. "Because we see it all – the Doctors bad times. And we've seen your future… oh the things you'll see, do… lose…and we saw another future – there's the one you'll almost certainly live, but there's another – a universe where you go astray. A universe where all that resentment that even now builds up inside you just pops, and you go mad. And that is where the bottle shatters."

The Doctor stared at the man for a long moment.

"Why bring me here?" he asked after a long pause.

"Because we want you to be fine," the man smiled. "Absolutely fine."

"What about that… robot double of mine?" the Doctor asked. "Isn't he prey to the same problems?"

"Not a robot," the man corrected him. "A sophisticated four dimensional biological replica of you, with some inherent emotional weaknesses and flaws removed so that he is immune to that alternate future. He is, in a sense, another Time Lord – a complete copy of you. Of course, being a new being, he is only now on his second incarnation – so you'll be saving the universe for a long time to come. Or rather, he will."

"And you're going to keep me here?" the Doctor replied, aghast.

"Until we believe that you have had enough of a rest," the man smiled. "We want to help you relax, get over your troubles."

The Doctor scrutinised the man carefully.

"You said that the 'inherent emotional flaws' were removed," the Doctor said. "What does that mean?"

"It means that those elements of your personality were not copied into his."

"So you control his mind?" the Doctor queried.

"Nope," the man smiled. "The removal of these weaknesses is simply a guarantee. He won't go mad."

"And I will?" the Doctor asked.

"If we don't keep you here, then yes," the man confirmed. "Really, we are sorry, but it's for the best you know."

"And you intend to keep me until I'm… 'relaxed'? How long will that take?!" the Doctor asked, starting to think he was being held prisoner by madmen.

"Read the note," the man said. "We'll be in touch," he added, before turning away.

Before the Doctor could do anything more, the man vanished, leaving him alone.

"What happens now?" he said aloud. He didn't turn around, or he would have sent the Fake Doctor and co' turn up on the screen again…

--

"D'you mind explaining what the point of exploring a barren rock is?" Carrie asked. "I mean it's all well and good that the place is new but it's… well, nasty."

"Why nasty?" the Doctor asked her, looking over the hill, his frock coat blowing in the wind, tie loose about his neck. "I know it's not exactly temperate, but…"

"Not temperate?!" Daniel yelled, frustrated beyond 'sirs' now. "It's a bloody wasteland!"

The Doctor shot him a filthy look.

"Well, it's a new wasteland," the Doctor said, "so we're looking around. I'm the designated driver, so there."

"Doctor," Daniel said, wearily (he didn't want to upset him), "are you sure the regeneration hasn't gone… slightly wrong?"

"Yes, I'm sure," the Doctor said. "Sure as Ships made of Sugar in Southampton…"

And then he hiccupped. Just a small hiccup, but what was interesting wasn't the hiccup, but the little wisp of white light that came with it. The Doctor, Daniel and Carrie stared at it for a moment.

"Well, that isn't right," the Doctor said. "Or left, or forwards, or backwards, or up or down for that matter."

"Doctor," Daniel began, but then the Doctor grinned and turned to him.

"And I've been practically everywhere, so I know what the difference between left and right is, Daniel," he said, maniacally. "Unless you go to planet Top Cee Tur Vee, where everything is backwards, and down is up and I have to call myself the Patient or they put me in a hospital - that they call a morgue, very strange people…"

"Doctor!" Daniel yelled. The Doctor froze up, stared at him, and then repeated his first word.

"Ouch," he said, before collapsing forward.

Daniel grabbed him before he hit the ground, and pulled him up. He was unconscious, and barely breathing. Daniel placed his hand on the Doctors' chest and discovered to his horror that only one heart was beating.

"We have to get him back to the TARDIS," Daniel said, lifting the Doctor up, and beginning to carry him. "He needs it."

Then he heard something. Something that sounded suspiciously like a flying hovercraft...

"Down!" he yelled. He threw the Doctor away from him, and Carrie ducked, but Daniel was riddled with bullets, and collapsed to the ground dead. The Doctor landed next to Carrie.

"Daniel!" Carrie yelled, starting to get up to help, but then the Doctor grabbed her arm.

"Don't," he said. "Trust me!"

"He's dead!" Carrie cried.

"No he isn't," the Doctor hissed. "Look, I'll explain later. Just… let them capture you, I'll save you later."

"But…" Carrie said, but the Doctor was out like a light.

Then the Doctor slipped back into unconsciousness. Two armed men in black combat fatigues ran up to Carrie.

"Surrender!" the first trooper yelled. "Hands over your head!"

"Is that other one dead?!" the other barked.

"Er..." Carrie stammered.

"IS THE OTHER ONE DEAD?!" the man yelled.

"Yes!" Carrie yelled. If they didn't capture the Doctor, then she would be rescued by them both later – if Daniel was even alive. "Yes... I think he is."

"Are you their medic?" the first man asked.

"Yes," the frightened woman said.

They looked at each other, then back at her.

"Right," said the first trooper. "You're coming with us."

--


	5. Chapter 5

V

The Doctor watched in dismay as the Fake Doctor was - apparently - left for dead, as was Daniel.

"He can't help them," he said, desperately. "He needs to save them. He needs to help my friends - please, send me there, I can help them..."

**We aren't risking it,** the monitor said.

"You'd prefer to risk their lives?!" the Doctor shouted. "You let me help them, or I'll make sure you regret it!"

**Are you threatening us? **

"You bet I am!" the Doctor yelled. "You've imprisoned me, with the pretext of doing it 'for my own good', and now you're saying that you won't help me help my friends!"

**Corporal McKenzie is already dead.**

"I know that!" the Doctor snapped. "Your copy has failed!"

**The replacement Doctor is your equal in every respect. We made sure of it. You'd have done no better.**

"But he's in the middle of regenerative trauma!" the Doctor insisted. "Even if he is my equal, Carrie could be dead before he can help her."

The monitor didn't say anything. For a long moment, the Doctor thought that they were ignoring him now.

Then, the man appeared again.

"Myself and my colleagues have been discussing your request," he said. "We Monitors…"

"Monitors?" the Doctor interrupted.

"Our groups official title," the man said, waving his hand dismissively. "Anyway – we've decided to free you, to assist your friends. However, bear in mind that we are doing this out of respect for you, not because we think you're cured." He stared into the Doctors eyes. "We cannot and will not be held responsible for your actions now. You kill the cosmos now, on your own head be it."

"I understand," the Doctor nodded. "Now send me back."

--

Daniel was dead. He knew it. After all, he had been riddled with bullets, and shot down. What else could he be? He didn't know. He couldn't feel anything…

Then he was alive, and a warm feeling was spreading through his body… and the Doctor was sitting over him, wiping his mouth.

"Yuch," he went. Then Daniel realized.

"Oh my God!" he yelled. "Eurgh!"

"I had to give up some of my limited regenerative energy to heal you," the Doctor muttered. "Show some gratitude."

"You kissed me!" Daniel yelled.

"You were dead, there was no other way to transfer!" the Doctor shrugged. "Moot point."

"How exactly did you save me?" Daniel asked, suspicious.

"I'll explain later," the Doctor smiled. "Now come on, we have to save Carrie."

--

Carrie was frog marched to what she could only describe as a big, 1920's sci fi fortress. It was, she decided, quite naff. The soldiers too who guarded this place, were quite naff. In fact they were very naff – big silver helms, silver space armour, silver lasers, not at all like the ones who had captured her, all nit and grit. The silver ones, she decided, would not last a second against a real soldier army, like UNIT – or the Zagrites. She shuddered at the memory of those insane fanatics.

The silver guys escorted her up a long flight of stairs, and led her, slowly and inexorably, to a large chamber, wherein there was a large, jewel encrusted throne, a large, jewel incrusted torture rack, and a large, not so jewel encrusted laser, with little disks like on a Dalek eyestalk and a lot of buttons.

Sitting in the throne was a middle age, bearded man who looked, quite honestly, as though he was honestly trying to be an evil villain – and he was failing. Similar (albeit more jewel encrusted) armour than his soldiers, and a big crown in gold and scarlet.

"You in charge here?" she asked.

Immediately a soldier slapped her across the face, but she didn't bow down or kneel. She had traveled with the Doctor.

"You show spirit!" the Dictator smiled. "Excellent! I am Zoltran, of Thorraxia!"

"That's this planet, right?" Carrie asked.

"Yes," Zoltran smiled, standing up and walking towards her. "I am the rule of this place. The ruler of Thorraxia. And now, my dear…"

He touched her face with his hand, and stroked it.

"I have a Queen."

--

The Doctor and Daniel walked on, engaging in the odd snide comment, and discussing plans of action.

"I'm the soldier," Daniel was saying. "Logically speaking, I should be the one to plan any attack."

"I've met Napoleon," the Doctor countered. "If you want to talk logic… well, it's only ever a way to be wrong _with authority._"

"What does that mean?" Daniel asked.

"I'll explain later," the Doctor said. "Now then, if the sonic is to be believed…"

The Doctor held up the small silver device.

"…then our quarry went this way. Come on!" he said, running, Daniel following hot on his heels, panting.

--

Carrie stared at the old git in disgust for a full twenty seconds again.

"Could you say that again please?" she said, almost gagging on the words.

Zoltran sighed.

"Of course, you're not exactly pleased by this development," he said. "It is unfortunate that I am so… physically abhorrent. I know I am old, and I am decrepit, and I am…"

"Very good at making long, declaiming speeches," Carrie yawned.

"Yes, that too," Zoltran smiled. "But soon, my dear, I shall be able to offer you everything."

"Like what?" Carrie asked, not the least bit interested, but she reasoned that keeping him talking was keeping herself alive.

"My greatest invention," Zoltran proclaimed. He led her over to a computer console, with a screen, and up popped an image of a large rocket. "It is my masterpiece. A weapon capable of causing an entire galaxy to be destroyed…!"

Zoltran grinned a maniacs grin.

"I shall conquer all!"

Carrie looked at him, askance, trying to work out whether he was serious.

"And what do you call this device?" she asked pointedly.

"I call it… the Deadly Device Of Doom, Damnation and Destruction!!!" Zoltran screamed, before throwing his heads back and laughing manically.

Carrie nodded, rolled her eyes, and turned to the guards.

"I'd like to be escorted to my cell now," she said politely.

--


	6. Chapter 6

VI

The Doctor smiled at the guard at the gate, Daniel with him.

"Who the hell are you?!" the guard asked.

"The Doctor," the Doctor replied, simply. "Time traveler, Time Lord, and Very Clever Man. I'm also an expert on castles and fortresses, and I just love exploring them, so…"

"Wait here," the guard said. "I will see if I can get you permission."

The Doctor watched him go, and then slipped in quietly with Daniel close behind.

"Why are we coming in illegally, when we could get permission?" Daniel asked.

"I'll explain later," the Doctor said. "Now come on!"

They ran down a corridor, further into the fortress.

--

Carrie had been in a few prison cells – of course she had. She traveled with the Doctor. How could she not have seen the inside of a few despots cells while he figured out some marvelous plan or another? But this time, he was out there, on his own, with a totally different face to the one she remembered, and Daniel was… well, he was gone. She had never been so alone in this sort of situation. Nor had she ever wanted to be. It was intolerable.

--

The Doctor and Daniel ran down a corridor, dodging guards and heading for the epicenter.

"All these corridors look the same," Daniel complained.

"Do they?" the Doctor said. "Yes, they do rather. Not important."

He stopped at a big door, which had appeared out of nowhere. He studied it for a moment, then grinned.

"Oh, that's good," the Doctor smiled. "That's big. That's fascinating."

A middle man with a black beard, a bad taste in robes and pointed features was staring at them in abject shock.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked, completely bemused.

"I'm the Doctor," the Doctor smiled, "and this fine upstanding gentleman is Daniel McKenzie. What can we do for you?"

"Carrie," Daniel whispered.

"I'll come to that in a mo', trust me," the Doctor said through gritted teeth.

"The Doctor?" the man said. "I cannot say I asked for a physician…"

"So you're the owner of this fine mansion, then?" the Doctor asked.

"It's my royal palace, but yes," the man said, puffing his chest out, and putting on a grand voice. "I am Zoltran, ruler of this world."

"You're kidding me," Daniel said under his breath. The Doctor only smiled.

"My lord," he said amicably. "I was wondering if you could tell me about our friend Carrie… a short blonde woman, early twenties?"

Zoltran suddenly looked very irritated.

"Yes, I know of her," he said. "Too well, I know of her. I asked her to be my bride, but she laughed and preferred prison."

"Oh, well, I'm sure she meant no disrespect," the Doctor began, but Zoltran cut him off with a wave.

"She meant all disrespect," he snarled. "And I shall not forget it. You, Doctor… you are her friends?"

"Yes," the Doctor smiled.

"Then you shall join her in prison, condemned to death," the dictator smiled.

"Oh," the Doctor said, his face dropping like a stone. "Ah."

"Doctor?" Daniel asked, as several guards seemed to appear from nowhere.

"Change of plan, Danny boy," the Doctor said, grabbing a sword from a nearby suit of armour and passing another one to McKenzie. "To coin a phrase – leg it!"

They ran out the way they came as the Guards came for them, Daniel fumbling for his machine pistol, but then the Doctor grabbed him and they pegged it down a corridor.

--

"#I was working on the railroad, all the live long day…"

It came to something when you were singing a boring old song in a boring old prison. But then, Carrie really couldn't think of anything better to do. She wondered vaguely if the Doctor was having more fun than her.

--

Daniel had, to no one's great surprise, pulled out a gun and started shooting the silver armoured guards, before grabbing their weapons and turning them on their former owners.

The Doctor was using the Sonic Screwdriver to see if he could locate Carrie.

"One human life-sign," he said to Daniel. "Three floors down. Dungeons anyone?"

"Right," Daniel said. "Now we just need to find a way down there."

"We could always take the lift," the Doctor suggested, pulling Daniel into a nearby elevator, and sending it down the floors. Daniel winced as Muzak played through the speakers.

"An alien world thirty billion light years from Earth, and they still have lift music," he complained. "Why?!"

"I'll explain later," the Doctor promised, holding up the sonic. It buzzed, and the music died.

"Thank you!" Daniel sighed, and then the lift pinged. The two heroes stepped out – to face a couple of unprepared guards. Before Daniel could so much as breath, the Doctor had run forward, grabbed their hands, an hissed at him "find Carrie!"

He nodded, and ran down the corridor, knocked out a passing guard, then, by a stroke of luck, he found Carrie's cell. The first thing he did was yell "stand clear!" and then he shot the lock. She looked at him as if he wasn't there.

"I'm hallucinating," she decided. "Or I'm dead, and this is the afterlife's idea of a twisted joke."

"You're alive, and I'm real," Daniel assured her.

"But… you were dead… how…?" Carrie spluttered.

"I'll explain later," Daniel promised her, wincing at how much like the Doctor he was starting to sound. "Look, c'mon, the Doctor is doing something to the guards and quite frankly, I don't think he's up to the fight."

--

As it turned out, he wasn't fighting them. As soon as Carrie and Daniel turned the corner, a guard grabbed Daniel… and spun him around in a dance.

"#I got cabin fever, it's burning in my brain…"

Another one grabbed Carrie, ignoring her squeak of protest, and continued…

"#I got cabin fever, it's driving me insane!"

The two of them, exchanged glances, then looked to see the Doctor leading a full blown song-and-dance.

"#We've got cabin fever, we're flipping our bandanas, been stuck at sea so long that we have simply gone bananas!" the Doctor and two helpful guards sang. Then, with a variety of strange noises, the Doctor leapt forward, grinned at Carrie, and led her off into another dance.

"Doctor, sir, with respect," Daniel said, "have you gone mad?!"

"Of course not!" the Doctor replied, stopping as the guards capered off down the corridor. "Sorry about that. Post hypnotic suggestion. Rather powerful."

"No kidding," Carrie grinned.

"Can we leave now?" Daniel asked. "I'm rather not in the mood for this."

"No!" Carrie yelled, suddenly. "Look, Doctor, there's this dictator guy…"

"Zoltran," the Doctor put in.

"Yeah, Zoltran," Carrie nodded. "He's mad. He's planning on destroying a whole galaxy with this rocket thing…"

"A rocket that can destroy a galaxy?" Daniel said, sceptically. "Doubtful."

"Actually," the Doctor countered, "it's fairly possible."

"How?" Carrie asked.

"I'll explain later," the Doctor said. "The point is…"

But they never found out what the point was, because at that very moment, a guard that nobody had noticed snuck up on them, and unleashed a hail of laser bolts that zapped the Doctor where he stood. Daniel pulled Carrie into cover and felled the guard, but the Doctor could do nothing other than foam at the mouth a bit, and then collapse to the ground.

"Doctor!" Carrie screamed.

"Carrie!" came a familiar voice. She looked up, to see – no. Brown frock coat, waistcoat, cravat, long, brown hair, blue eyes…

"Doctor?" she said. "But then…?"

Daniel had already spun the… the _other_ Doctor over. He was glowing…

--


	7. Chapter 7

VII

The other Doctor glowed, and before everyone's eyes, he had turned into a completely different man.

He opened his eyes, and looked Daniel in the eye.

"Remember you," he said. He sat up, and looked Carrie in the eyes. "And you." Then he locked eyes with the Doctor. The Eighth Doctor.

"Oh," he said. Then a moment later, "Contact."

A moment later, he stood bolt up, eyes wide, fear on his face.

"No," he said.

"Sorry, it's true," the Doctor smiled.

"But…" the Fake Doctor said.

"But nothing, old boy," the Eighth Doctor said. "I am sorry."

The Fake Doctor stood ramrod straight, then he grinned at the Eighth Doctor, an easy, confident, almost arrogant grin.

"Doesn't matter," he said. "I'm still sexier."

He stroked his hair, and smiled at Carrie.

"Now then, what's say we go sort out that Zoltran bloke, doll?" he said, and Carrie grinned and laughed a little uncomfortably – she wasn't _quite_ used to the Doctor being like this.

Mind you, she wasn't complaining…

Daniel, however, was not taking this crap from the Doctor – _either_ of him.

"Mind telling me just what the hell is going on?" he asked.

The Fake Doctor and Carrie were already gone, and the Eighth Doctor sighed, and clapped Daniel on the shoulder.

"I'll explain later," he said. "C'mon, we have to stop that machiney thing…"

--

Zoltran looked up as Carrie Wright and a complete stranger entered the room.

"Who are you, and why do you have her?" he demanded. The complete stranger was looking at him as if he'd seen his face, but he couldn't remember where.

"Ah, yes," he snapped his fingers. "The clichéd nutter scientist!"

"Who are you?" Zoltran thundered.

"The Doctor," the man said with an easy grin. "Think you've already met Carrie. Put her in a dungeon, if I hear right."

"Oh, I did do that, yes," Zoltran smiled. "Anything else, Doctor?"

"That'll do for the mo'" the Doctor smiled. "So, anyway, thought I'd best pop in and – you know – do the whole, 'finding out the villains plan' bit."

"Really?" Zoltran asked. "And how will you manage to do that… FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE?!?!"

Three guards ran at the Doctor, intending to break his neck. Zoltran (who was rather a sensitive soul for a nutter scientist) closed his eyes, and heard the grunts of exertion and pain from his men and the Doctor. When he opened his eyes, however, the men were all unconscious, the Doctor was smirking, and the girl was staring in awe.

"I really think you'd better get more quality help in the future," the Doctor grinned

Zoltran raised an eyebrow, and sighed.

"What do you want…?" he asked.

--

The Eighth Doctor flicked a switch on the computer console, and grinned.

"Love this sort of technology," he said. "Very…"

"Retro?" Daniel asked.

"I was going to say 'quaint,'" the Doctor told him. "But retro works."

They had found this on the prison level, and the Doctor was going through the bad guys computer systems, trying to find out what Zoltran was planning. So far, they'd found his recipe for Chicken soup, his laundry detail, and what his favourite colour was, what colour underwear he was wearing (lilac) but nothing about his weapon of mass destruction.

"What did Carrie say about it?" Daniel asked.

"She didn't," the Doctor growled. "That impostor took her off with him before she could."

Daniel noticed the odd tone in the Doctor's voice.

"Are you jealous?" he asked his C.O.

"Jealous? Me? Of him? No…" the Doctor said, a grin on his face, but a flickering, uncertain one.

"C'mon," Daniel wheedled. "I mean, Carrie is pretty special…"

"Hadn't noticed," the Doctor said, faux-casual.

Daniel couldn't believe this. The Doctor, the man every man in UNIT is taught to respect and obey, is actually… a guy. Just a slightly nerdy guy who can't tell a girl how he feels. Daniel vaguely wondered if this was how he felt about all his female companions, but then… no. Probably because this body was younger.

"And he is more confident…" he added.

"For a fake," the Doctor put in

"And he has a better dress sense…"

"He has his predecessors clothes on," the Doctor snapped. "We don't know what _his_ dress sense is going to be like."

"Probably better than yours…" Daniel smiled. "C'mon, man, if you want Carrie to…"

The Doctor turned on Daniel, eyes on fire, and Daniel gulped.

"I don't want anything of the sort to happen," he declared. "I want to stop a megalomaniac. Can we _please_ focus on that?"

Daniel nodded, as the Doctor went back to work.

"And there's nothing wrong with my dress sense," he added. Daniel grinned.

--

The Doctor hadn't said anything when Zoltran had named the Deadly Device of Doom and whatever, Carrie noted. So, obviously, he was more professional than he looked.

The explanation for the device went over her head, but it went something like; "There is a black hole at the centre of every galaxy, and that black hole never expands, never contracts – because the amount of growth of the black hole is in equilibrium to the amount of growth the universe does. Certain star systems might – _eventually_ fall into the hole, but not for millions of years."

"So that's where your device comes in," the Doctor put in.

"Yes," Zoltran smiled. "The device is rocketed faster than light towards the hole, and then it creates a gravitational field that causes the hole to expand so much – that it simply… engulfs the entire galaxy. Then the frayed edges of space eventually pull into the hole and create a knot – the ultimate fate of all black holes."

"Yes, yes, very clever…" the Doctor smiled. "If a bit… mad. Tell me… you plan to hold the galactic governments to ransom, right?"

"Yes," Zoltran confirmed.

"Won't they – I dunno – call your bluff?"

"Maybe," Zoltran said. "'Cept I'm not bluffing. Oh, by the way…"

He took an ornate knife out of his belt and stabbed the Doctor in the heart.

"No one calls me mad," he said.

The Doctor looked down at the knife hilt protruding from his chest, then looked back up at Zoltran. Carrie was too shocked to move.

Zoltran calmly plucked the knife from the Doctors chest.

"Git," the Doctor managed, before collapsing. Zoltran smiled, and turned on Carrie, brandishing the bloodstained knife.

"Your turn," he said.

--


	8. Chapter 8

VIII

The Doctor stopped dead, looked up from his console, and gasped.

"We have to go help Carrie!" he said.

"Why?" Daniel asked, confused. "What's happened?"

"The other Doctor – the Fake Doctor – he's been stabbed!" the Doctor explained.

"How do you know?" Daniel asked, confused. The other Doctor wasn't anywhere in sight.

"He might be a fake me," the Doctor replied, "but he is a Time Lord. We're linked. And he's been stabbed."

"We have to help him, if we can," Daniel said, reasoning less for the other Doctors sake, more for Carrie's.

The Doctor made as if to run for the lift, but then he stopped, and a look of grim indecision came upon his features.

"We need to find out what Zoltran is planning," he said, solemnly. "We can't do that if we run off."

"The other Doctor went to see Zoltran didn't he?" Daniel countered, thinking wildly – they couldn't just _leave_ Carrie to her fate. "Maybe he already knows!"

The Doctor smiled, slowly, and then he nodded.

"Very well then. Avanti!"

And with that, he ran off, leaving Daniel to follow him, grinning widely at the Doctor's impetuousness.

One day, he knew, it was probably going to get him killed.

--

Zoltran advanced on her, menacingly.

"You turn me down, come here with this clown, and you think I'm going to let you live…?!" he said, drooling with anticipation.

"I," a rather hurt voice came from the floor, "am not a clown."

Carrie looked at the floor, and she saw a balding head, shorter, and the voice had a north-England twang to it. The Doctor stood up, and Zoltran stood there gaping.

"Right then," the Doctor said. And he turned.

He was old. Fifty or more. He looked mildly peeved, his face obviously not capable of more – or maybe he wasn't. Carrie noted that he studiously avoided her eye.

"How…?" Zoltran said. "What…? Why…?"

"Do try to finish a sentence old boy," the Doctor said, with a smile. Then his eyes locked on Carrie for the first time, and he smiled sheepishly, before looking at Zoltran again.

"Guards!" the dictator yelled. Three guards ran for the time travellers, but the Doctor hit the first one, spun the second into the third, and turned a complete circuit, before smiling at Zoltran.

"That was fun," he opined. "Bit hectic."

He was still studiously avoiding Carrie's eyes. It was as if he didn't want to be reminded that she existed.

"How the hell do you keep doing that?!" Zoltran screamed. "Why the hell don't you just bloody die!!"

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, and smiled.

"You'd be amazed how many time someone says that to me," he said. He scratched the back of his neck, and smiled. "And regeneration is nice."

"Well, stop it!" the evil Zoltran screamed. "Just stop it!"

"Doctor?" Carrie said. He glanced back in her direction, but studiously didn't meet her eyes.

"Yes?" he said.

"Can we – y'know – leave now?" she asked. "I'm getting a tad worried."

"Well," the Doctor smiled, "we do have a Deadly Device of Doom etcetera, etcetera to destroy, but I take your point. I suggest we rejoin my other self and Daniel and tell them what we know."

"You aren't going anywhere!" Zoltran said, his voice suddenly, frighteningly, much calmer. He was aiming a futuristic laser pistol at the Doctor's head. "You're going to die, again."

The Doctor looked at the pistol as if it was a mildly annoying gnat.

"I don't think so," he said, and he kicked it out of the dictator's hand. "You lose, old bean." He then delivered a perfect nerve pinch to his foe's neck, and the old man collapsed.

"Where'd he keep that?" Carrie asked.

"I'll explain later," the Doctor said. He knew full well of course, but obviously, human olfactory senses were quite bad…

--

The Eighth Doctor and Daniel ran into the Fake Doctor and Carrie three minutes later.

"We know what it is!" Carrie yelled excitedly at Daniel. "We know exactly what it is!"

"What?" Daniel asked. But the Doctors were only staring at each other, having murmured "contact" again, and now they were walking off towards yet another corridor.

"Where are you going?!" Daniel asked.

"To destroy Zoltran's Deadly Whatever," the Eighth Doctor called. "My other self has it all figured out."

"So what is it then?" Daniel asked. But the Doctors didn't pay attention. Daniel turned and looked at Carrie. "Carrie?"

"Well," she said, grinning smugly, "let's just say - I'll explain later."

She ran after the Doctors, and Daniel sighed.

--

"So," the Fake Doctor said.

"So," the Eighth Doctor added.

"Blimey, he doesn't play around when he makes his deadly thingamabobs, does he?" Daniel said appreciatively.

The Deadly Device of Doom, Damnation and Destruction was fifty feet high, with a thick, tree-trunk-like middle section connected to an outer balcony only by a thin metal walkway. The top of it was a giant, sci-fi-stylised laser weapon aimed at the sky. The entire thing was sci fi silver and white.

"How the hell do we take that down?" Carrie asked.

"Simple," the Fake Doctor said, still not quite meeting her eyes. "I would imagine that if one of us went inside, and deactivate the – would you say Zactronium core?" the Fake Doctor asked his counterpart.

"Oh definitely," the Eighth Doctor said. "Without a doubt."

"What the hell's Zactronium?" Daniel asked.

"We'll explain later," the Doctor's said together, then looked at the machine. "Now," the Fake Doctor said.

At that moment, a hail of laser bolts crashed towards them. Daniel grabbed his own weapon and fired back, while the others took cover, but the Fake Doctor was too slow, and took a shot to the abdomen.

"Argh!" he yelled, landing at Carrie's feet.

"Stay still," the Eight Doctor said, tending his wound. The Fake Doctor's frock coat, by now, had more holes than coat so the Eighth Doctor discarded it, and removed the tie. "You'll be fine."

"I hope so," the Fake Eleventh Doctor said. "I'm sorry about how I've ignored you, my dear," he added to Carrie. "You must think I'm awfully rude."

"No," Carrie said, and she smiled. "No, you're alright."

"It's just this isn't a particularly flattering form," the Fake Doctor continued. "And… and I…"

The shooting stopped. Daniel had driven the enemy back for now.

"You rest," the Eighth Doctor smiled. The Fake Doctor nodded, and then slumped. Daniel came over.

"Is he…?" he asked. At that moment, the glowing light returned and the Fake Doctor's features were blotted out, before they became visible again and an extremely handsome, dashing looking man lay in the Fake Doctor's clothes.

"Whoa," Carrie said, eyes widening.

The Fake Doctor's eyes opened.

"Cabin fever," he said.


End file.
